Like Real People Do - Jill Roord

Time

Jill's POV

"Hunter came down for dinner, didn't she?" I asked Leah after I'd looked around and not seen the usually so animated brunette.

Leah shrugged, "I think so but I'm not sure, she hasn't spoken to me all day. Don't know what's up with her."

I knew something was different about Hunter today from the second she'd stepped onto the bus, her soul was bleeding out into the world yet everyone was ignoring the trail of blood. I'd tried to talk to her yet she's pushed me away, Hunter's eyes had seemed stoney and cold, I missed their usual enchanting glow.

"She sat with Beth and Jen I think," Lia told me.

I craned my neck to find their table, I caught sight of Beth pretty quickly but next to her lay an empty chair, still pulled out from someone's departure. Something didn't feel right.

"One second," I excused myself from the table, walking over to the opposite side of the room where Lia had last seen Hunter. Dinner had practically come to an end anyway, so I wouldn't miss much.

She'd worried me today. Truthfully, I knew nothing about Hunter on a deeper level but I had this unnerving feeling that the tides weren't as steady under that animated exterior of hers, I didn't trust her with herself.

The table was silent, Lisa looked like she'd been struck by lightening while Kim seemed frazzled by the fallout of that same storm.
I lay a gentle hand on Beth's shoulder, leaning down to talk to her, "Beth have you seen Hunter?"

Beth gulped, her eyes wouldn't reach mine.

"Beth?" I questioned, my tone turning serious, "What happened?"

"She um went to her room," Beth muttered.

"How long ago?" my eyebrows furrowed, something was adding up in my mind. 

"I don't know," Beth stuttered, "Probably about forty-five minutes or so."

I stood up straighter, I knew that wasn't the entire story; Hunter didn't usually just ditch a dinner table, especially when everyone else looked so highly uncomfortable. I searched the team's faces for answers but learnt quickly that I couldn't read most people, there was this chill creeping up my spine as I felt the noise of the surrounding tables dull into a silence.

Kim sighed, looking up at me, "Please Jill, if you're trying to fight someone else's battle, can it happen tomorrow? Too much has happened tonight."

I went to open my mouth but Jen beat me to it, "I don't think she was going to do that Kim."

And then I felt this alarm go off in my head, blaring sirens telling me to find Hunter. I ran out of the room, pacing the hallways of the hotel knowing her room was right next to mine. Her room was next to mine. She was meant to be next to me. That's what I realized.
I knew now that I felt incomplete without Hunter by my side because that's where she was supposed to be; her and I were always meant to be side by side. But now I was alone, truthfully I didn't know where she'd gone but I knew where she was supposed to be.  

I found the door. Room 131. 

Quickly, I remembered that I didn't have a key and on this trip we'd been given the 'luxury' of having our own rooms. Right now I was cursing Joe for that gesture.

"Hunter!" I called out, knocking on the door, "Are you okay?"

There was no reply.

"Hunter, it's Jill."

No reply yet again. I didn't even know if she was in there. But something in my soul told me to not leave this door until I found her, my feet were rooted to the spot.